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Public tired of Willlie Horton? Whither 21st century clemency?

Referring to the case of Maurice Clemmons - the mentally ill man who was pardoned in 2000 by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee for crimes committed in his youth and who last year killed four Washington state police officers in a coffee shop - former US Pardon Attorney Margaret Colgate Love offers up an item in the National Law Journal titled "Goodbye to Willie Horton" (Jan. 11), suggesting that, "The American public is tired of hearing about Willie Horton. The case of Maurice Clemmons has given our elected leaders an opportunity to move on."No politician needs to be reminded of the iconic 1988 rampage by a furloughed prisoner that dashed Michael Dukakis' presidential hopes and ushered in two decades of harsh justice. For anyone aspiring to elective office, Horton has come to symbolize the hazards of any association with a high-profile crime...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on January 10, 2010 (boomark / email).